News

Hanafin mother in injury payout

Mona Hanafin, the mother of the social welfare minister Mary Hanafin (pictured), was awarded 62,500 in an out-of-court settlement earlier this year for an injury sustained while visiting Leinster House in 2004.

The Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas paid Hanafin damages of 33,280 and legal costs of 29,296.

Hanafin fractured her arm when she fell off a steel ramp at the entrance to Leinster House. She took a personal injuries case against the taoiseach and attorney-general in 2007, claiming the ramp was moved by an Oireachtas employee while she was walking along it.

Details of the settlement were released by the Houses of the Oireachtas following a request under the Freedom of Information act.

Mona Hanafin declined to comment this weekend.

Mary Hanafin, during her time as education minister, censured the compensation culture, criticising parents who lodged compensation claims when their children fell in the playground.